In this project, the UW researchers studied many different strains of yeast cells that had lower protein production. They found that mutations to the ribosome, the cell’s protein factory, sometimes led to increased life span. Ribosomes are made up of two parts — the large and small subunits — and the researchers tried to isolate the life-span-related mutation to one of those parts.

“What we noticed right away was that the long-lived strains always had mutations in the large ribosomal subunit and never in the small subunit,” said the study’s lead author, Kristan Steffen, a graduate student in the UW Department of Biochemistry.

The researchers also tested a drug called diazaborine, which specifically interferes with synthesis of the ribosomes’ large subunits, but not small subunits, and found that treating cells with the drug made them live about 50 percent longer than untreated cells. Using a series of genetic tests, the scientists then showed that depletion of the ribosomes’ large subunits was likely to be increasing life span by a mechanism related to dietary restriction — the TOR signaling pathway.

Sign me up for extending my life, I really want to live forever and this is a step in the right direction.

I am aware that the earths resources is in danger of being depleted and that over population is going to be a problem, thats why we need life extension because we need to leave this planet and find a second earth somewere else and humans can´t do that right now because we die from old age….

And it´s not like people will stop dying all togheter there is still being hit by a car.

Like this:

Related

It’s probably more likely we would use drugs or modifications targeting the TOR pathway. There is a protein released in exercise called AMPK (AMP-mediated protein kinase) which inhibits the mammalian TOR (Target of Rapamycin) pathway. Also, RNA interference of the TOR pathway has doubled the lifespan of worms.